Amber Chandelier

AMBER CHANDELIER Late October and dark trees Bare of branch and bark Mask an airy golden volume yet: A leafy brightness in autumn’s aura. Gloom of day but the spreading maple’s As if seen through trellised panes: A Russian chandelier in the Amber Room, Each frond glowing, reflecting the uncertain light. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . NOTE The Amber Room is a part of a Russian tsarist palace called Tsarskoe Selo that, in terms of grandeur and excessive opulence, outstrips even Versailles. Tsarskoe Selo is in St. Petersburg, Russia.